Telemedicine technologies as a tool to increase the availability of health care for the population at the present stage: key problems and development prospects

Abstract

Telemedicine is the remote provision of medical services to patients and continuing education for health workers as part of digital healthcare. In 2019 the telemedicine market was estimated at 37.4 billion US dollars, the expected growth by 2022 could reach more than 18% annually. Many countries spend significant funds on the development and production of digital medical technology with the ability to transfer data. In most countries of the EU, telemedicine is an auxiliary technology in the implementation of medical care. In the EU there are no common standards in the field of telemedicine services and common approaches to determining the content of telemedicine. In a number of countries, including the Russian Federation, the main limiting factor hindering the development of telemedicine is the financial issue due to the high cost of telemedicine technologies and the underdevelopment of technical equipment. An urgent issue is the protection of patient privacy and confidentiality. The regulatory framework for digital healthcare in Russia is poorly developed and requires significant additions. Today, the main problem for medical organizations that are going to provide services through telemedicine is the need to use a unified system of identification and authentication of participants. Significant legislative work is required to remove barriers to the further development of digital health.